Following last year’s success on its summer symposium, the Everglades Foundation once again brought dozens of partners, board members, and clean water advocates to Washington, D.C., for a 2-day celebration and conversation in support of America’s Everglades.
Everglades supporters gathered for the America’s Everglades Dinner, held in one of the most iconic settings in our nation’s capital, the National Archives Museum, home to the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
With America’s 250th anniversary of independence, those attending the dinner said they felt the evening carried a special sense of significance.
Supporters of America’s Everglades are very happy with the continued federal commitment to restoration, including the Trump administration’s collaboration with the State of Florida to expedite the completion of the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir by five years.
The dinner ended with closing remarks by U.S. Representative Brian Mast, who reinforced the strong Congressional support behind Everglades restoration.
This year, The Everglades Foundation was also proud to present the 2026 America’s Everglades Champion Award to two longtime Everglades supporters whose bipartisan leadership has been instrumental in moving restoration forward. U.S. Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), the Dean of Florida’s Congressional Delegation and Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), a Senior Member of the House Appropriations Committee and its Energy and Water subcommittees, were recognized for their bipartisan leadership in helping secure billions of dollars in critical restoration funding.
Also over the two-day event, 75 Everglades Foundation supporters, along with their environmental partners, met with Congressional lawmakers on the House and Senate side for a full day of meetings with the bipartisan Florida Delegation and members of Congress from across the country.
The teams met with dozens of elected officials and their staff, celebrating the historic bipartisan support behind restoring and protecting the source of drinking water for millions and a trillion-dollar economic asset.
“The message on the Hill was simple and resounding, restoration is working, and it’s worth it,’ said Eric Eikenberg CEO of the Everglades Foundation.
